Nokia Lumia 625 vs Samsung Galaxy Grand Quattro: Which One Is Right For You?

Thanks to a surge in the demand for smartphones, Samsung has now outperformed Nokia to become the country's biggest phone maker. The 18th Annual survey by 'V&D 100' covered over 30 mobile handset companies doing business in the country across a variety of categories like feature phones, multimedia phones, enterprise phones and smartphones. It's results put Samsung on top of the list with a market share of 31.5 percent, leaving Nokia in second place with a market share of 27.2 percent.

The Finnish phone maker's revenues have slipped gradually over the last year since it hasn't been able to perform well in the Indian smartphone segment. Despite steady international sales of the Lumia series, the Windows Phone 8 powered handsets have not gained much traction in India yet.

Yesterday, the company launched a new mid-range handset, the Lumia 625. Gizbot checks out how it compares against Samsung's Grand Quattro, a competing mid-range device in the same price bracket.

Nokia's Lumia 625 stays in line with the design and color scheme of the Lumia family, sporting a polycarbonate case, bright colors, thin side bezels and a minimal design over all. The device isn't extremely comfortable to hold, but we have no complains.

The phone uses Samsung's tried and tested plastic casing, which feels somewhat sturdy. The Galaxy Grand Quattro might not look as delightful, but its curved edges, and comfortable rear make it easy to grip and hold.

So while the Lumia 625 is definitely the better looking device, Samsung's Grand Quattro is easier to hold and offers a much more secure grip.

Display :

Both devices have use a 4.7inch IPS LCD display that manages to churn out an identical 480 x 800 pixels. While the Grand Quattro churns out a pixel density of 199ppi, the Lumia 625 delivers 201 ppi.

Both displays deliver a decent viewing experience with easy readability and bright imagery. However, it is fair to term both of them as mediocre in this department as other mid-range handsets from competing brands are equipped with far better displays.

Performance :

Both handsets use a 1.2 GHz processors.

The Grand Quattro utilizes a 1.2 GHz quad-core Cortex A5 CPU which is supported by an Adreno 203 GPU for graphics. For multi tasking, the device calls upon 1GB of RAM. The result is a device that runs the Android operating system smoothly. We didn't notice any glitches or lags during operation.

The Lumia has a Qualcomm Snapdragon MSM8930 chipset consisting of a dual-core 1.2 GHz Krait CPU and is supported by an Adreno 305 GPU for graphics. However, it only has 512 MB of RAM for multitasking. Even though the phone was able to run the Windows Phone 8 OS smoothly, its lack of RAM will limit the device's gaming abilities in a big way.

The Samsung Galaxy Grand Quattro wins this round hands down purely because it has more RAM, allowing for a better multi tasking and gaming experience.

Camera :

The Grand Quattro comes with a 5-megapixel primary sensor in the rear and a 0.3-megapixel front face camera. It packs in features like smile and face detection, auto focus, geo tagging, LED flash. Moving onto videos, it can captures 720p video at 30fps.

The Lumia 625 utilizes a 5-megapixel camera on its back and a basic VGA shooter on its front. Its camera offers features like auto focus, touch focus, LED flash, geo tagging. For video, it offers 1080p video recording at 30fps.

While the Samsung handset has equally good imaging capabilities, the Lumia 625 has goes one step ahead with some neat photo apps that will interest shutter bugs. Move to video, and the Lumia edges ahead with 1080p video capabilities.

Operating System :

When it comes to comparing operating systems, your decision can be made after answering two simple questions.

1) Do you like the cute but cluttered Live Tiles interface from Microsoft? Or do you prefer the more expansive and customizable home screens on Android?

2) Do you absolutely want access to the one million plus apps available on the Android App store? Or will you be content with Microsoft's limited selection of apps, which offers just the bare essentials like WhatsApp, FourSquare and more.

Also, if you use essential Google services like Gmail, You Tube, Google Maps, Google Search and more, then we recommend that you consider an Android handset, since the Windows Phone 8 OS has limited access to these services.

Conclusion :

If your priority is pictures, then go with the Lumia 625. If you're more interested in multi-tasking and running video games and other graphically demanding apps, then get the Samsung Galaxy Grand Quattro.